from Standardbred Canada

Campbellville, ON — It may not have been as easy as it should have been for a 1-5 shot, but Captaintreacherous flashed his championship form by fending off a challenge from longshot Captive Audience to win the first of three C$50,000 Pepsi North America Cup eliminations Saturday evening at Mohawk.

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Captaintreacherous took his NA Cup elim in 1:48.4.

At the finish, the 3-year-old son of 2008 Cup winner Somebeachsomewhere had prevailed by a half-length in 1:48.4, with Sunshine Beach third and Varadero Hanover fourth.

The top three finishers from each elim, plus one fourth-place finisher drawn by lot, qualified for next Saturday’s C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup, the richest pacing event in the world.

The elim winners also earned their connections to right to select a post position before the balance of the field is drawn, Tuesday at noon at Mohawk.

With Tim Tetrick at the controls, Captaintreacherous, last year’s champion two-year-old pacing colt in Canada and the United States, took over from See And Ski after an opening quarter in :26.3, took the field to the half in a leisurely :55 seconds, then picked up the pace through three-quarters in 1:22.

But in the stretch, Captive Audience, a 30-1 outsider, threw up a major challenge to the prohibitive favorite and at one point looked like he might go by, only to be repelled late.

“I wanted to put him up close, let him do a little work and make sure he’s tight enough for next week,” said Tetrick, North America’s leading driver but still looking for his Cup win. “He did everything I asked him to do. Got a nice little second quarter breather and he marched on from there.

“Halfway down the lane, my horse was pacing pretty good, and when he saw the other horse he dug right back in. He’s kind of a lazy colt, sometimes he loses concentration, but once he sees another horse, he’s all business.

“He’s bigger and stronger than last year and I’m very happy with his comeback. He’s a great horse. I’ve been looking forward to this horse all winter long.”

Last year, Captaintreacherous had a banner season, winning eight of 10 starts, including the Metro Pace, and $911,277 to garner divisional honors on both sides of the border. His only disappointing loss came in the year-end Breeders Crown, when losing by three-quarters of a length to Rockin Amadeus and Wake Up Peter.

This year, he opened with a 1:49.4 score in a Pennsylvania Sires Stake race at Pocono Downs on May 19, his only outing prior to the elim.

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Fool Me Once was a wire-to-wire winner in 1:48.1, the fastest NA Cup elimination.

Fool Me Once, driven by Sylvain Filion, wired his six rivals in the second C$50,000 Pepsi North America Cup elimination Saturday at Mohawk, completing the mile in a blistering 1:48.1.

At the wire, the strapping son of Art Major was two lengths to the good over Wake Up Peter, with Martini Hanover third and Twilight Bonfire fourth. The 6-5 choice, Rockin Amadeus with Yannick Gingras, winner of last year’s Breeders Crown, had every opportunity to strike, as he moved first over to challenge the pacesetter turning for home. But he couldn’t close the margin, then proceeded to drift out, eventually finishing fifth.

Fool Me Once, who carved out fractions of :26.2, :54.1 and 1:21.2, was full value for his best win yet, his fourth in five outings this year for co-owner and trainer Mark Austin of Fergus, Ontario and partner Dan Smith of London.

Last week, the colt suffered a tough trip in a division of the Somebeachsomewhere, finishing third to Sunshine Beach in spite of some major traffic problems.

Saturday night, Filion made sure he didn’t encounter traffic, sending his colt to the front from the start en route to a career mark and a faster clocking than champion Captaintreacherous, who took the first elim in 1:48.4.

“I didn’t really want the front,” explained Filion. “I got locked in last week and just hoped it wouldn’t happen tonight. He raced so big last week. I had no room. When I finally got room late he was flying. So I was pretty confident. He’s always shown a lot of potential, but maybe lacking some desire. But every week he’s improving, so he’s good now.”

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Vegas Vacation held off Odds On Equuleus to win the 3rd NA Cup elim in 1:49.

Vegas Vacation, the 2-5 favorite with Scott Zeron, won his fourth race in a row, holding Odds On Equuleus safe by 1-1/2 lengths to win the third C$50,000 Pepsi North America Cup elim Saturday evening at Mohawk.

Trained by Casie Coleman, who directed Sportswriter to a 2010 Cup triumph, Vegas Vacation tripped the teletimer in 1:49, following his career best 1:48.3 clocking last week when taking a Somebeachsomewhere division. Apprentice Hanover wound up third, with Beach Memories fourth.

Resistance Futile took the field to an opening quarter in :26.2 before being overtaken by Apprentice Hanover. However, Zeron had Vegas Vacation on the move from fourth, rocketing to the front before the half in :54.1, then leading the field through three-quarters in 1:22.3.

In mid-stretch, Odds On Equuleus and driver John Campbell made a determined charge on the outside, but, after a few taps of the whip from Zeron, Vegas Vacation had plenty left for the finish.

“We were just waiting to see what they were going to do up front,” said the 23-year-old Zeron. “I decided to make that move (before the half). We got strung a little bit, the half in :54, but I was able to back it off to the three-quarter pole. Odds On Equuleus gave me a good run but I was happy with the way mine crossed the wire.”

In 2012, Vegas Vacation won just once in 10 starts, but on six occasions was the runner-up. The son of 2001 Cup winner Bettors Delight also finished a good fifth to Rockin Amadeus in the Breeders Crown.

“Last year really wasn’t his fault. He had a lot of bad luck,” explained Coleman. “He drew a lot of bad posts. The biggest thing about winning this elim is I’m picking my post on Tuesday, so anything inside the fifth hole I’m pretty happy with.

“He’s a lot smarter this year. We gelded him very late. I was so high on him I did not want to geld him. I waited as late as I could. Finally, I said ‘It’s going to cost me money, I’ve got to geld him.’”

As one of the fourth place finishers, Twilight Bonfire was drawn into the field for next Saturday’s Pepsi North America Cup. Varadero Hanover is the also-eligible.

Pepsi NA Cup field

Apprentice Hanover
Captaintreacherous (pick post)
Captive Audience
Fool Me Once (pick post)
Martini Hanover
Odds On Equuleus
Sunshine Beach
Twilight Bonfire
Vegas Vacation (pick post)
Wake Up Peter

AE: Varadero Hanover